Week 4. English Lit. Shakespeare

[john_mahoney]

I had a thought.

It may not be a great thought but here it goes.

Sonnet 65.

In the tutorials I was really stuck on line 10

"Shall time's best jewel from time's chest lie hid,"

What is 'time's best jewel'? or 'time's chest'? The footnotes suggest 'the beloved' is the jewel and that time's chest is a 'treasure chest'. I'm not sure I agree with those

Comments

[geebusd]

Hey John, interesting thought, "time is not an enemy but a fellow admirer of beauty, it takes all beauty to itself and so kills it for us but hides it in it's chest forever. So no true beauty ever dies it just goes beyond our reach". That ties in with the notion that time is a hunter (from the use of the word "spoil", which denotes hunting), so maybe he inevitably will put beauty/grace, however powerful, into his chest of treasured posessions, and we are stuffed if we try to stop him. Aha! Thanks for exploring it, each line is so rich it's difficult to ascertain a meaning!
GeebusD

[jessekants]

Hey John, I like your point here and I also remember thinking when we first read it in class that times chest was to do with the body’s chest not a pirates chest. Although I don’t have the sonnet here in front of me now so I’ll have to get back to you on what I think about your theory. Nice images of time stowing away beauty in his skeletal chest came to mind as I read your description though.

Time!

[giovanna68]

Hi John,
I understand where your coming from and i can see what you mean. When we think about time and beauty I see it as a slow and gradual development of beauty that cannot be rushed it take's time, so the 'Time's chest lie hid?" might be the lapse of time between something coming into blooming or flourishing. When Time is mentioned it is a pronoun giving Time authority and strength. Just a thought but what you have suggested makes sense.